


A Champion’s Uniform

by Cuilchan



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Canon Compliant, Childhood Friends, F/M, Gloria really doesn't like getting in the way of people's dreams, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Nothing Hop can't fix, PostwickShipping if you squint, We all deserve a Hop in our lives, potential spoilers?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:21:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22200058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuilchan/pseuds/Cuilchan
Summary: After winning the finals, Gloria receives her Champion Uniform. She hasn't quite processed her victory yet, nor the implications of it. She' s quickly getting overwhelmed with her guilt and insecurities, but Hop is there for her, right when she needs him the most.
Relationships: Hop/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 9
Kudos: 129





	A Champion’s Uniform

After the roaring crowds had quieted and Gloria had returned to the silence of her hotel room, she still couldn’t believe that she was the current Champion, not even as she held the Champion uniform the League had provided her with. She never knew if she would actually have to wear the cape as well, or if that was just part of Leon’s own extravaganza. She was far too short to be rocking a cape; it would never work. She made a mental note to discreetly check with the League later. So… what was she supposed to do now? Did she need to put it on immediately? Was this everything she was allowed to wear from this point forward? And why, for Arceus’ sake, did they need to mix up a bunch of patterns on this? They hardly made sense.

Gloria’s head was a whirlwind of confused thoughts confronted with the inevitable uncertainty that comes with reaching any kind of goal, let alone a goal of this size. Did Leon hate her? Did Leon’s fans resent her now? Did her rivals hate her? Did Hop hate her now that she—

A knock on her door brought her back to reality. _Talk of the Giratina_. Hop was standing outside her door with the same smug grin Gloria had seen him sport since they were three. 

“Hey pal, you alright?” He asked her, as he let himself in. “Ah, this suite is definitely better than the one I have… I’d better win next time!” Hop took in his surroundings, moving quickly from side to side, energic as ever. Good old Hop, still the same as always. Gloria tried to push back against the pang of guilt as his best friend mentioned his loss, but with scarce results.

“Oh, cool, you got the Champion uniform already!” he said, excitedly, nodding towards the item she wasn’t aware of still clutching in her hands.

“I did.” She mused, still holding it, now puzzled.

“Well, what are you waiting for, mate? Put it on!”

Gloria jumped to attention, as if zapped by Yamper’s Spark.

“Y-you think?”

“Yeah, I want to see how it looks on you!” he exclaimed, distractedly, before he suddenly realised the implication of what he just said. He blushed quite violently, and Gloria couldn’t help but follow suit, lowering her gaze. “I mean—we need to figure out the kind of style you’ll be rocking! No capes for you, Gloria, I’m afraid, but maybe a leather jacket? We can ask Marnie, perhaps—” he fumbled, suddenly very enraptured with his own shoelace. Gloria envied his ability to get out of anything relatively unscathed; if it was her, she would probably just keep talking and then realise the hole she dug herself in was far too deep to get out of.

“I’ll get changed then.” Gloria whispered, as she made her way to the en-suite bathroom.

“Fab! Don’t take too long now.” Hop replied, before blushing again. _Relatively_ unscathed.

“Okay”, Gloria thought, “Let’s get this over with.”

She looked at the jersey in her hands one last time, before sighing, and getting out of her dress and cardigan in favour of her new attire. She struggled a bit with the form-fitting leggings, truth be told, but as she clasped the glove closed and looked in the mirror, she couldn’t help but think back on what Carla used to say, every time she did her hair for the Gym Challenge: _“You look fresher than a mint!”_

Gloria didn’t know what to think, so she decided to think nothing at all and let Hop be the ultimate judge.

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"H-how does it look?" She asked, with open arms, shyly, and twirling slowly. Hop hesitated, bringing his finger to his lips, pensively. He could only keep the solemn façade for a second, and before long, he was grinning.

"Smashing. You're truly something, mate."

Gloria blushed, and looked at her feet.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I feel like I'm cosplaying Leon."

Hop snorted, ridiculously amused by the idea. "Wouldn’t be the first time we do that. Wait—wait, do his pose?"

Gloria chuckled and, then, pumped her fist in the air, stilling, and perfectly mimicking Leon's final victory pose. All those years of practice during their childhood together finally paid off. Plus, she always got a bit more confident every time she started bantering with her best friend.

"That's it, an uncanny resemblance! Truly, the sister he never had." Hop smiled, his eyes were so soft, and his affection palpable. Never mind her freshly gained confidence, Gloria's heart still skipped a beat.

"I've just hung out with you for too long."

"Hey! I saved you from a boring childhood." Hop flicked her shoulder.

"You really, really did." It was a quiet whisper, and then Gloria lowered her gaze again. It might have been a spur-of-the-moment kind of reply for Hop, but Gloria really felt like she had been saved. She had moved to a new town when she was three; her accent was different then, and kids could be merciless. She had instantly clicked with Hop, who for a while had called her “His Wooloo from another farm”. She was so incredibly grateful to Hop and Leon. She hadn’t even met Leon before he had given her Sobble, but he had trusted her without reserve. Hell, if Leon hadn't endorsed her and given her her first Pokémon she wouldn't even be there. But, on the other hand, Hop probably would. He would probably be standing in her place, victorious, if it wasn’t for her. Her thoughts got infected with familiar guilt once again. She couldn't shake the weight at the pit of her stomach. She couldn't shake the guilt. The feeling that she just ended so many people's dreams with one fell swoop was suffocating. She smashed Hop's biggest dream, prevented Marnie from becoming Champion and then saving her city, and Bede? Well, Bede could be a pain to deal with, but deep down he was just a kid that wanted to show the world that he could do it too.

"Gloria, mate, you alright?"

A sob betrayed her and escaped her lips.

"Gloria!"

A gentle touch on her shoulder, a squeeze. She couldn't lift her eyes from her feet. She couldn’t bring herself to look Hop in the eyes.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Hop."

Hop squeezed her arm, tighter.

"Where's this coming from? What are you on about?"

Gloria was this close to bawling her eyes out. She felt vulnerable; lost. She desperately tried to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand, but it didn't prevent the tears from falling down nevertheless. Another heart-wrenching sob.

"I crushed everybody's dream! Yours, Marnie's... bloody hell, even Bede's! Who even am I? I wouldn't even be here without your brother's endorsement!" Gloria felt her knees giving out but Hop kept her in place. “He must be ecstatic, trusting a stranger with his own Pokémon and then she stabs him from behind, dethroning him and completely disregarding his own ten years of hard work!”

She quieted and waited, ashamed of her silence, and Hop just pulled her into an embrace. Gloria couldn't stop the tears; she couldn't stop her chest from hurting, but she held onto Hop as if clinging to a rock in a storm at sea.

“That’s not like Lee, Gloria.” He whispered. “He really enjoys watching trainers getting strong, he really loves battling and you gave him a hell of a challenge.”

Gloria shook her head, in disbelief.

"You deserve good things too, Gloria, you know?" Hop squeezed her and moved the hair that was now sticking to her face out of the way. His delicate and affectionate touch made her sob even more. "You won. You got this fair and square. You deserve this."

Gloria held Hop's shirt in her grasp.

"I just got lucky."

"Don't you talk shite now, you big numpty!" Hop shook his head. "You're here because you're a strong trainer. Your Inteleon fucking destroyed my brother's Charizard."

Gloria sniffed. "I just used the type advantage against him."

"And that doesn't show that you have skill? Gloria, I've watched you. I've battled against you, several times. You're my best mate, and my rival. I see those gears turning inside your head every time we have a battle. You're very observant and you've worked hard."

Gloria shook her head, stubbornly. "You've worked hard too!"

Hop's smile was soft again.

"Yes. And that's why we all got here. Because we worked our arses off. It's a challenge. It's part of the game! And hey..." Hop gave her another reassuring squeeze "Nothing prevents anyone from getting you next year! You better watch out!"

Gloria managed to crack a small smile between the tears, as she tried once again to wipe them away.

"You're amazing, Hop."

Hop looked startled by the compliment, and stopped for a moment, closing his eyes.

"I'm really glad you think so." He whispered, pulling Gloria into an embrace again. She held on tight. She really didn't ever want to let him go.

"Thanks for being family, Hop."

"Gloria!" He smacked her on the back and his voice dangerously cracked. "Don't make me cry, please."

Gloria giggled.

"Hey, feel free. It's a crying party here."

Hop shook his head and wiped the corner of his eyes. She noticed Hop was still holding her yet pretended not to notice and didn't let go. She wasn’t going to let him go any time soon. Hop absentmindedly grabbed her hand and dragged her rival across the hotel room, close to the door.

"Come on, let's go. Let's grab Leon and ask him to buy us dinner!"

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for reading! 
> 
> Oh boy, I haven't played Pokémon games for years (but I grew up playing them) and Pokémon Sword was the one I was curious to try and I'm so glad I did. It was delightful and I have so many feels I don't know how to deal with! This short fic came out of my own emotional rollercoaster when battling Hop in the semi-finals. I was standing there, really proud of him, but also heartbroken at the thought of having to take his dream away from him. I might have cried a little bit at the end of it, but I definitely had a blast battling him! 
> 
> So here it goes. 
> 
> Thank you again for reading! Apologies for any mistakes/typos; English is not my first language.  
> [ _Come and say hi on tumblr!_](http://cuil-chan.tumblr.com)
> 
> Until next time ~


End file.
